When it comes to studying tragedy, there’s no better place to go than the theater. The Greeks started performing tragedies in the 6th century, and people haven’t stopped since. With a tragic play for every era in human history, theater holds a boundless amount of knowledge for us to tap into. Here’s a list of plays to watch (or read) to teach you the ins and outs of tragedy. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe A contemporary of Shakespeare, Marlowe might have become the most well renowned playwright of his time if he didn’t die young. Killed in a fight, allegedly over who was to pay a bill, scholars suspect Marlowe served as a government spy. He wrote only six plays in his lifetime, with Dr. Faustus claiming the most fame. Published at the start of the 17th century, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus tells the story of a scholar named Faustus who abandons his studies in pursuit of more dubious topics, mainly necromancy. He strikes a deal with Lucifer to gain a demonic assistant, Mephistopheles. Faustus swears off his baptism to strike the bargain, but his efforts prove fruitless. At the end of the play, demons drag Faustus to hell as he warns the audience not to follow in his footsteps. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller If character driven tragedies are your thing, Arthur Miller is the playwright for you. Miller firmly believed character served as the primary driving force of a story, with everything following afterwards. Illustrating the impossibility of the American Dream and the effects of failing to achieve it, Death of a Salesman won both a Pulitzer and a Tony award. Willy Loman, a struggling salesman, wants his washed up son Biff to follow in his footsteps. But both men cannot get a break – Willy gets fired instead of promoted, and Biff fails to land a business idea. The men butt heads, and the play ends with Willy committing suicide to leave behind insurance money for his family. With a fatal flaw of pride, Willy fills the classic tragic hero archetype in a modern setting. Fences by August Wilson Another play capturing life in America, August Wilson’s Fences depicts a black family with competing desires. Troy works a blue-collar job, and often reminisces on how he could have gone professional in baseball. He frequently criticizes his sons Lyons and Cory, encouraging them to get real jobs and stop pursuing music and football. Cory and Troy clash, as Troy tells Cory not to get a football scholarship out of fear of discrimination. Cory ends up joining the military, and forgives his father when Troy passes away – even if Troy didn’t deserve it. The play also won a Pulitzer and a Tony award, and hit the big screen in 2016 with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis helming the leads. With a focus on the black American experience, Wilson addresses racism, the prison system, and inherited trauma in family. With pride and fear working together to heighten tension, Fences is another example of a classic modern tragedy. Any of Shakespeare’s Tragedies Whether you like Shakespeare or not, this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning him. Shakespeare wrote 10 tragedies, many of which continue seeing adaptations and staging's. Each play features different themes, colorful characters, and shocking spectacles that astound audiences. Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies focus on revenge, including Hamlet and Othello. Regardless of which play you pick, you’ll find a stack of bodies at the end. Reading Shakespeare can show us how to use language and verse in dramatic ways that still progress the plot, and how to maintain multiple characters with varying objectives. Ian Hebeisen is a writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graduating in May 2020 with a degree in English Literature with a Writing Emphasis, Ian writes comics, poetry, and scripts. He is currently an intern for The Brain Health Magazine and aims to work in the comic publishing industry. In his spare time, Ian plays Dungeons & Dragons, board games, and bass guitar.
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